The Oblates of Notre Dame (OND) is a

Roman catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

religious congregation based in

Cotabato City Cotabato City, officially the City of Cotabato ( Maguindanaon: ''Kuta nu Kutawatu'', Jawi: كوتا نو كوتاواتو; Iranun: ''Bandar a Kotawato'', بندر ا كوتاواتو; fil, Lungsod ng Cotabato), is a third class independent c ...

, Philippines. The congregation consists of 172

religious sisters A religious sister (abbreviated ''Sr.'' or Sist.) in the Catholic Church is a woman who has taken public vows in a religious institute dedicated to apostolic works, as distinguished from a nun who lives a cloistered monastic life dedicated to pra ...

as of January 2016.. They are known for their

interfaith Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is ...

programs in Mindanao which caters to both Christians and Muslims. It was founded on November 10, 1956, in

by two missionaries of the

Oblates of Mary Immaculate The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest born in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France on August 1, ...

who came to Manila in 1939: Fathers George Dion and Gerard Mongeau. The First Members were: Sr. Ma. Estrella Adre, OND, and Sr. Rosita Quijano, OND Their primary apostolate is pastoral catechesis. Many sisters are working as parish sisters and help in diocesan offices in various local parish churches. They own and administer schools or help in other institutions as administrators, deans of women or campus ministers especially among Notre Dame schools in the Philippines and church-owned institutions. The OND first established presence in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

in 1982. The OND Sisters are also engaged in a numerous variety of social ministries, and work in conjunction with the OND Hesed Foundation.

References

{{Roman Catholicism in the Philippines
Mindanao Notre Dame Educational Association 1956 establishments in the Philippines Catholic Church in the Philippines Christian and Islamic interfaith dialogue